Sunday, February 04, 2007

Fret Not For The Polar Bear

It's not very often I agree with neo-conservatives, but Rush Limbaugh is right in saying the plight of the polar bear is overstated. Nature is primarily an exercise in adaptation, survival of the fittest. The polar bear is a highly intelligent creature, who has shown the capacity to change its behaviour with the global circumstance. Below are some examples of how the polar bear has reacted to global warming. They'll be fine:

Below, we see a group of polar bears who have joined the Canadian navy, as part of the Harper's government's desire to better patrol the northern passage:

This polar bear shows how industrious and adaptability they can be. No chance of this fella drowning in the open ocean, searching for seals:

These two polar bears commandear a vehicle and begin the trek to Fort McMurray in search of work. If you can't beat em, join em:

Limbaugh, the recently nominated Nobel Peace Prize phoney, who just loved Harper's letter that "told the truth" about Kyoto and what it really was, is by far one of the most vile people I've ever heard. I wonder how different the US and now Canada would look, had he never crawled out from under whatever rock he came from?

Anonymous said... "One group of polar bears on the west shores of Hudson's Bay is declining in number while others thrive all over the rest of the Arctic. Oh those poor tourists!"

Well as long as you can convince yourself of that. Please list an area where the polar bear population is thriving. We know that the Western Hudson Bay population is experiencing the most serious population decline but other populations that have been studied for a long time such as the Southern Beaufort Sea population (Alaska and western Canada) and Baffin Bay are also showing decline. I don't know of other populations which have been studied extensively. One of the problems is that in many areas when there are more polar bear siting on land the local population assumes that is a sign of an increasing bear population, when the reality is most likely the opposite with the bears wandering closer to towns because of starvation due to decreased ice cover.

Polar Bears are the canaries in global warming coal mine. The pix you show prove that they are under stress. These are not cute incidences and they are not indications of effective adaptive behaviours either.

This all fits together in a harmonious whole. Man has to start integrating with nature again - instead of presuming we can "tame it or domesticate it."

The planet will survive. There is no such assurances for our species. Fundamental question to the fundamentalists...were we given free agency to act in this way?

I kinda got the feeling that this was a joke, but unfortunately, I really can't laugh about it. I've seen way too many documentaries, read way too many articles, to see this as anything to laugh at.

Just an example, I saw a documentary a few days ago showing that polar bears now have to swim miles in order to get to their food. When one particular polar bear was able to finally reach ice, he was too exhausted to hunt and kill his prey. He gave out a large bellow of frustration after having tried unsuccessfully to catch his pray, laid down, and ended up starving to death.

With all due respect, please don't take the moral high ground with me. I've been concerned about polar bears since the 80's, and if you read this blog you know I am dead serious about global warming. That fact doesn't mean some sarcasm directed at a baffoon isn't in order. I was actually trying to use another medium to convey how pathetic the situation has become.

I believe that was on "Planet Earth" David Attenborough's excellent series produced for the BBC and now playing on the CBC.

(Just to quibble a little bit, assuming we were watching the same show, the polar bear never reached ice, he/she had to just continue swimming until the bear reached an island, tried to kill prey, couldn't died of starvation, very sad and definately not funny.

Steve's post on the other hand was very funny. I think that it is through humour that Steve (and others) can show many people, who otherwise might never think about it, the truth.